Copycat Vegan Baileys

Learn how to make homemade Vegan Baileys Almond Milk Liqueur with this quick and easy recipe. All you need to do is mix Irish whiskey, coffee, almond milk, cane sugar and a bit of vanilla and cocoa powder.

It’s Emese and I love Baileys! I don’t drink much alcohol, but if I have to choose just one of all alcoholic drinks, I would choose Baileys. I even toasted with it on our wedding. 🙂 Also my husband explicitly asked me to mention that he strongly prefers wine or beer. 🙂

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Is Bailey’s vegan?

If I think of Baileys, I think of Christmas or New Year’s Eve or St. Patrick’s Day. It is a digestive, an appetizer to serve before dinner or to toast with it. It is one of the most popular spirits in Europe, but sadly up until 2017 Bailey’s was not vegan.

However, the company saw the demand and created Baileys Almande, which is vegan.

Baileys does not disclose the full list of ingredients either on the packaging or on their website. All they say is that Almondmilk liqueur gluten-free, dairy-free, but may contain soy. It is made from among others

• real almond milk (made of sweet almond oil and almond essence (extracted from crushed almonds), cane sugar, purified water and real vanilla),
• coffee, and
• Irish whiskey.

Reasons you need a homemade version

If you are debating whether you need a homemade Vegan Baileys in your life, these are the reasons you should consider:

1. Price – It is quite pricey, so it is cheaper to make at home than buy.
2. Bad reviews – Many people love it, but there are quite a lot of reviews which are not very flattering to say the least. People are talking about experiencing a bitter after-taste (which may be due to the almond essence). They also say that it tastes quite artificial. Some found the smell off-putting as well.
3. May contain soy – The packaging says it may contain soy, which means it is manufactured in the facility also using soy products. For those allergic to soy, it is not really an alternative.
4. Ingredients list is not disclosed – When you are making Baileys at home, you will know exactly what is in it.

Ingredients you need

We developed this recipe to come up with the best Copycat Vegan Baileys recipe. Here is what kind of ingredients we used and why:

• almond milk (because it is the base for Baileys Almande)
• Irish whiskey
• strong to medium espresso
• cane sugar (because it is also the sweetener used for Baileys Almande)
• cocoa powder (because the The Original Baileys Irish Cream contains chocolate flavor)
• vanilla extract

Can you use other dairy-free milk?

• Cashew milk – Almond milk can have a stronger nutty taste than for example cashew milk. If you want to tone it down, use this Homemade Cashew Milk recipe.
• Full-fat coconut milk – It could be a possible substitute to add a richer texture like heavy cream would. If you use that in combination with nut milks, please make sure to boil it otherwise the full-fat coconut milk will solidify when you put it in the fridge and can compromise the texture. Also you need to double up on the vanilla extract to overpower the coconut taste.
• Soy milk – You can also try with soy milk, as it is not as thin as a nut milk might be. Personally, I don’t like the taste of it, but certainly it can be an alternative.

How to make Vegan Baileys at home?

Step 1 – Make a strong quality coffee

We have a neat little Nespresso Citiz & Milk machine*, which we bought after our first daughter was born. Still loving it by the way especially after a long sleepless night. For this recipe, we made an espresso using a Nespresso capsule called Arpeggio*. It is rather a strong to medium in intensity as I prefer to have a distinct coffee taste in our Irish cream liqueur.

Step 2 – Blend to make Vegan Baileys

• Use unsweetened almond milk. There are some recipes with coconut milk, which is fine, but in any case, I prefer to drink my coffee with almond milk, cashew milk or hazelnut milk (Yum!). Not to mention Baileys also chose almond milk to create their vegan version.
• To remain as authentic as possible I used Irish whiskey (Jameson’s for example). Feel free to use more, although I believe I used a fair amount. :))
• I also added cane sugar and vanilla extract as in Baileys Almande to get as close as possible. You can use coconut sugar as well, which adds a nice caramel-kind of flavor to it. It will be subtle but yummy indeed.
• Last but not least, I added just a little bit of cocoa powder as I read that it is one of the not so secret ingredients of The Original Baileys Irish Cream.

How to drink Irish Cream Liqueur

On the rocks. 🙂

I found these lovely heart-shaped chocolate molds* to make healthy Cranberry Jelly. But aren’t they also perfect for ice cubes? My Vegan Baileys just got a tiny bit more awesome.

If you like to mix it up, you can add this homemade Irish cream liqueur to other drinks like:

• Any coffee-based drinks like iced coffee, hot coffee, latte macchiato, etc.
• Other drinks like chai latte, milkshake, hot chocolate etc.
• Cocktails like Eggnog, Mudslide, Martini, B-52, Jello Shots etc.

Here is a list of Baileys cocktails and mocktails. Sadly not all of them are vegan, but a good start to get some inspiration.

Vegan desserts using Baileys

Not only you can drink it, but you can bake with it. If a recipe calls for coffee or whiskey or other spirit you can add this homemade Baileys instead. It will definitely spike up any recipe. It is a perfect addition to any chocolate-based desserts. Here are some inspiration from other bloggers. All recipes are vegan and gluten-free (or with GF option).

• Irish Cream Cheesecake (Vegan, Gluten-free) by Fat Free Vegan
• Chocolate Brownies (Vegan, Gluten-free) by Life’s Always an Adventure
• Chocolate Cupcakes (Vegan, Gluten-free) by GF Jules
• Butter Cream Frosting (Vegan, Gluten-free) by Just Simply Samantha
• Chocolate Fudge (Vegan, Gluten-free) by Gluten Freedom Inc
• Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan, Gluten-free) by Trampling Rose

FAQs and substitutions

Can you make it nut-free?

Yes, you can use light coconut milk or soy milk if you need it nut-free. It may alter the taste a bit though. You can use dairy-free milk in combination with full-fat canned coconut milk for a richer taste, but we recommend bring it to boil and cool it down before adding it to the blender. Otherwise, the full-fat coconut milk will solidify in the fridge when you want to chill the vegan Baileys. And that will look quite horrible. 🙂

How long does it last?

Keep it in the fridge around 4-5 days, tops a week.

What kind of coffee should I use?

Of course, you can use any other cold brewed or capsule coffee or instant espresso powder, but be sure to choose at least a medium one in intensity. Otherwise, you might not be able to taste the coffee in it at all.

Is whiskey gluten-free?

Well… According to Beyond Celiac, whiskeys are safe to drink for people diagnosed with coeliac as the distilling process removes any gluten. That being said I also read in several websites that distilleries might add back some “mash” after the distillation has finished or they can use a wheat-based glue to seal the barrels or there might be some caramel coloring or other added flavor that might contain gluten. So proceed with caution and check with the manufacturer.

This Vegan Baileys recipe is dairy-free and egg-free. It is also suitable for vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free diets. I think alcohol is not approved in a WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) diet. It is only nut-free if you use dairy-free and nut-free milk like coconut milk or soy milk.

⇒ GET OUR FREE 7-DAY VEGAN MEAL PLAN NOW! OR CHECK OUT ALL VEGAN MEAL PLAN RECIPES HERE! ⇐

Want some cookies with it?

We have several yummy gluten-free vegan cookie recipes you might enjoy with your homemade Baileys. All of the below recipes are vegan and gluten-free.

• Chocolate Coconut Cookies
• Snowball Cookies
• Walnut Crescent Cookies
• Shortbread Cookies (coming soon!)
• Thumbprint Cookies (coming soon!)
• Lemon Cookies

UPDATED:This recipe was originally posted in Feb 2019, but it was re-written a bit and republished in Oct 2021.